New SFF gamers case: presentation and advices

Eh, it'll be okay, I think. Just got a promotion at work, so I thought I would give myself a job-well-done present. It's not really something I need at the moment.

As long as they're not being discontinued, I can wait some more.

Oh, and I e-mailed Lan Gear about it and Matt responded that he would see what he could do for me. I'm cautiously optimistic about that, but I am incredibly pleased with how quickly someone responded to my e-mail. Sounds like a respectable company.
 
Ryun said:
Eh, it'll be okay, I think. Just got a promotion at work, so I thought I would give myself a job-well-done present. It's not really something I need at the moment.

As long as they're not being discontinued, I can wait some more.

Oh, and I e-mailed Lan Gear about it and Matt responded that he would see what he could do for me. I'm cautiously optimistic about that, but I am incredibly pleased with how quickly someone responded to my e-mail. Sounds like a respectable company.
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To see what he can do for you as far as what?

And I agree, they seem like a respecatble company. I love this case. Mine came in today... gotta wait till I get home to see it.
 
Opened it up this morning. Here's some pics. I still haven't even had the time to pull apart the case to see what's inside! I know I get some fans and some other goodies in there as well. Sorry ahead of time for the horrible lighting.

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Those pictures look really good. Think I might have to get this case. How much was the total with the bag?
 
Eek. You really wanna know? Haha. $276.12 shipped to Phoenix, AZ.

I would never spend that kind of money usually... but I had a few turns of fortunate events that allowed me to. :D I had a case that I bought from a different company that came broken. I received full refund and received the replacement parts for free. I basically had a complete case for free. I ended up reselling it for even more than I purchased. So I decided to get what I REALLY wanted. :)
 
zionic said:
Eek. You really wanna know? Haha. $276.12 shipped to Phoenix, AZ.

I would never spend that kind of money usually... but I had a few turns of fortunate events that allowed me to. :D I had a case that I bought from a different company that came broken. I received full refund and received the replacement parts for free. I basically had a complete case for free. I ended up reselling it for even more than I purchased. So I decided to get what I REALLY wanted. :)
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That, sir, qualifies as an epic win.
 
zionic said:
Eek. You really wanna know? Haha. $276.12 shipped to Phoenix, AZ.

I would never spend that kind of money usually... but I had a few turns of fortunate events that allowed me to. :D I had a case that I bought from a different company that came broken. I received full refund and received the replacement parts for free. I basically had a complete case for free. I ended up reselling it for even more than I purchased. So I decided to get what I REALLY wanted. :)
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OMG! I live in Goodyear. :)

But dam that is an Epic Win for you! I need to start selling stuff again so I can make my new PC.
 
Zurginator said:
That, sir, qualifies as an epic win.
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I know, right? The previous case was an NZXT case. They have the absolute best support ever. I bought the case used on eBay. It arrived broken and UPS replaced my money. I called NZXT for part and they sent them free with free fans! I resold the case on eBay for even more than what I bought it for. I couldn't believe it! :D

Epic win for sure. I love my Lan Gear case now.

lillimon04 said:
OMG! I live in Goodyear. :)

But dam that is an Epic Win for you! I need to start selling stuff again so I can make my new PC.
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Hahahaha! That's funny. Do it man. Maybe you'll have something I need. I have a build log at overclock.net about the whole case and build story. I'm on a budget so it's going slowly... but I'll have this thing build by march I think!

http://www.overclock.net/intel-build-logs/891430-ziontosh-budget-build-journey.html
 
Hey all. I've seen pics of the H50 in Da Box. What about the H70? Is the rad the same size? Just curious if it would fit.
 
just ordered my da box classic, i didnt want a window and would have loved blackheart, but seems there tele number just rings, and i have left email messages and not one repley, scares me if i ever have a problem.

i will be leaving my thermaltake lanboy vw1000bks ( modded to fit 10.5 inch cards)

running p2 550be (unlocked x4)
cooler master Gemini II s ( kaze slip stream 120)
8 gigs ocz ddr2 1066 @ 920
gtx 275 ( replaced with gtx 480 asus)
mobo ga-ma785gm-us2h
pioneer blue ray burner

my problem is i have velociraptor hdd (apps and games drive)
ssd x2

and my cooler doesnt like my quad at 1.4 and running at 3.7 heats up to 60c+ and i get pissed

Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme looks like it might have to have the hdd tray removed. so what are u all doing i see pics of setup but iam looking for temps, oc's volts' added fans. so chime in please.


side note i really do hope this QC of these case's are still not a issue


AND THe ppls at LAN GEAR get at me i did have some request before my case goes out but i dont think i will hold my breath on that

so looking at other heat sinks if found some of the bigger boys to still be a problem with this case. noctus nh-d14 with 2 fans fan*hsf*fan*hsf, then fan for mount on case behind heatink. and then the


http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2845309 3dmark vantage with 550 unlocked

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2844376 vantage 550 oc'd


still looking thur all these post to see for any info looks like all the big heatsinks are taking up the hdd cage.. i know there is aadded hddd cage i can get but i dont want to remove the fan above the 480gtx
 
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I have just ordered, received and built my DaBox – my first ‘real’ self build PC. Having been a laptop man for 20 years or used per-built Dells, I thought I’d write a few thoughts etc which may help others. I say real, because I don’t count the Shuttle bare bones system I bought last year than came with MB etc.

Back-ground: I bought a Shuttle XPC last year and have been really disappointed – despite the adverts, it can’t handle a i980x/480/6GB Corsair RAM and I’ve had to use a second external PSU to drive the card (with the lid off) and despite what it says in its BIOS, over-clocking doesn’t work – so my i980X was wasted. Getting fed up with this, I ordered a LAN GEAR ‘Da Box’, an 850W PSU and Rampage III MB.

Ordering/Delivery: was very quick 3 days (I’m in the UK) and the item arrived well packaged. It would have been nice to have received a despatch email as well as an order confirmation email, as I wasn’t sure when it was being shipped immediately or built to order. [Strangely, I have just, as I am writing this received a despatch notice!]

Build: I was expecting an all black system, however was a little disappointed to find that the back plate etc are bare metal. The finishing internally is poor (much worse than the Shuttle) with very sharp edges and with all those wires running around I would think could cause problems.

Assembly: Took me about 5 hours and went very smoothly, apart from a number of cuts and a few retries (the bottom plate required by the stock i980x cooler meant I had to disassemble it all and restart). Instruction booklet is ok, but could be improved in a number of areas.

Instruction Booklet:
1. The inventory in the booklet was wrong: 16 screws of type A – well no bag contained 16 screws! Screws came in the fan boxes and I think they included these in the count, but led to some head scratching and thoughts of missing bits!

2. No indication of which way things went together – I put the PSU in the wrong way around and found no screws holes lined up. After a bit, tried the other way and bingo, but again had me stumped for a bit (this is my first self build!).

3. Similarly with the fans: which way around do they go? Blow or suck? Also, the air filters, I fitted one, but the others don’t seem to fit anywhere.

Perhaps have a PDF available on the net, with better pictures to show more detail.

Cons:
1. Bigger than I thought - taller.
2. Not quite as ‘sexy’ as the pictures here – bare metal back panel.
3. Wiring – a right mess internally – my Corsair 850 PSU has too many big thick cables that are long and nowhere to coil them. Just stuffed in and routed to avoid tangling with the fans.
4. Some thread-lock in the box would be good! Should you use this as a matter of course?
5. 120mm fans seem to be running 100% all the time as they are powered from the PSU – why not run them from the MB fan control connectors and control them?
6. Very tight fit for my Nvidia 480, only slightly better than my tiny Shuttle.
7. Poor internal metal finish, a lot of very sharp edges. I would consider this a premium case and to have no attention to this I think is poor. On the Shuttle, all the edges are folded over and there are no sharp edges at all.
8. Have to remove sloping fan to slide MB tray in/out with 480 fitted due to the heat pipes on the top of the card.
9. HDD (A 64GB C300 SSD) had to go to alternate position due to tall memory (issue with my choice of RAM Corsair Dominator).
10. Not sure about those side USB ports – alignment is poor and I now have cables sticking out the side which look odd. I think the front would be a better position.
11. The wire for the audio with runs to the back of the Rampage MB has to be disconnected when the MB tray is slid out.

Pros:
1. It worked! First time: even for a relative ‘newbie’ like me; it was not a difficult assembly process. Screws did align correctly, everything did fit. Everything was in the box.

Rating: 4/5 – despite the greater number of cons, none are big issues and I really like the unit!
:):)
 
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old case, thermaltake lanboy VF1000BWS

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ohhh pretty

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silver arrow ( big)

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Trouble , man did this suck. hsf hits edge of case and wont go in

@ lan gear, u should make this piece able to come off


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trouble 2, but dont think lan gear could do something about this one


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as you can see here, i cant use a 120mm fan.

so for now i used a belt sander and skimmed down the 120mm fan to fit in this shroud, but i cant put lid on. Fan sits in the shroud, but edge of fan extends past height of case



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amd 550be unlocked x4 3.7
gtx 480 NOT A TIGHT FIT, think it has to do with what power supply u have and ur cable mangment skills
ht omega 7.1 sound card
8 gigs ocz ddr 2 800mzh
gm-ma785-us2h
ocz agility 2 60g
wd velociraptor 300g
pioneer bdk-205bk Blue ray burner
TR silver arrow (lapped 1000grit)
700 roswell power supply ( yup roswell)
non modular, and didnt have a problem with cables in this case.

not to mention this power supple has survived me ocing , my 550 x2 to 3.8, and my gtx 275 up past gtx 285 speeds , now powering x4 3.6-3.8 range, and gtx 480 no problems

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/465837

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2853829

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2849075

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2845309

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2845262

thankz Lan gear for making a great product, i still have some tweaking to do, buti feel thats cause of the big heat sink that i bough

John
 
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John, I don't disagree about my cable management skills ... as I stressed, this is my first real own build and I wanted to say that despite this, putting this into this case wasn't a major issue, but with fewer/shorter PSU cables it would be easier/cleaner.

I'll see if I can post some pics of my setup. My PSU cables seem to really get in the way - my poor choice of PSU. I've also got my 480 in the other slot, I know it maybe isn't the fastest (according to my Rampage docs), but that's just the way it is ...

These 480s are huge!
 
Zurg: You never dit post final pics of the build. With radiator mounted and everything...
 
anyone have any ideas how to mount a fan about the gpu? if u look at my pic with the fan shroud there u can see the heat sink comes under it. like stated i can put in in the shroud, but cant close the case. and these cards run hot, and i dont want to hear the fan on the gtx running 100% cause its the loudest thing in my case lol.

@j2222 ,no i wasn't commenting on ur cable skills ( not really targeting you)
 
triples304 said:
anyone have any ideas how to mount a fan about the gpu? if u look at my pic with the fan shroud there u can see the heat sink comes under it. like stated i can put in in the shroud, but cant close the case. and these cards run hot, and i dont want to hear the fan on the gtx running 100% cause its the loudest thing in my case lol.

@j2222 ,no i wasn't commenting on ur cable skills ( not really targeting you)
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What I would recommend is get a new cpu heatsink, you can't fit the shroud in place with the Silver Arrow in, just too big, and a poor fit for the case, if you can't slide the motherboard in with it already installed. I used an NH-D14 when I had the case and I could fit the shroud on but I don't really recommend it because it had problems sliding into the case as well. I also used a Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme in the case before that and it seemed like a perfect fit.

You can also try modifying the shroud. Aluminum is pretty easy to cut so with a dremel you can cut into the shroud to modify it so it does not interfere with your heatsink. The fan might need to be modified as well.

A third option is to swap your GTX 480 for a 570 or maybe 580. Those cards run a lot cooler than the 480. The GTX 480 is one of the hottest cards and really not appropriate for SFF cases.

A fourth option is to install aftermarket air cooling on the 480. I have a Gelid Icy Vision on mine and temps aren't bad, and much better than stock cooling.
 
ya wish i could return the TR SA but i lapped it :) soo no go there, not to mention man i love the temps it has been giving me. redoing the shroud seems like my cheapest option for now. as if i redid the hsf for the gtx 480 i would lose my ht omega sound card, and well i love that and runnning it to my 5.1 surround for movies and such.

only thing i can come up with is making the shroud flat, instead of a angle. but not sure how that would effect airflow coming in or out of the case
 
triples304 said:
only thing i can come up with is making the shroud flat, instead of a angle. but not sure how that would effect airflow coming in or out of the case
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Having it go up rather than at an angle is better than nothing. I also forgot to mention you can maybe use zip ties to tie a fan over the GPU where the should be, securing it to the case. I secured the original hard drive bracket in that position with zip ties before, before the modified hard drive bracket became available.
 
"you can maybe use zip ties to tie a fan over the GPU where the should be" i try to look at that and i just cant see that, ok maybe i can now i think more and more about it lol.

Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme was gonna be my first choice, but since i like to push and push my chips as far as i can i went over board. and all these corsair h50'h70's ehh not doing a set up that i cant refill. Got a thermal take kandulf lqs just sitting in a box more then enough too. u have pics of ur setup posted that i can see ?
 
triples304 said:
"you can maybe use zip ties to tie a fan over the GPU where the should be" i try to look at that and i just cant see that, ok maybe i can now i think more and more about it lol.

Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme was gonna be my first choice, but since i like to push and push my chips as far as i can i went over board. and all these corsair h50'h70's ehh not doing a set up that i cant refill. Got a thermal take kandulf lqs just sitting in a box more then enough too. u have pics of ur setup posted that i can see ?
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http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035689922&postcount=1753

I didn't take pics of my zip tie job but I basically did the same thing as the user above, except he used screws. We basically put the HDD cage over the GPU. As you can see, he attached the cage with screws via the back vent. You can probably zip tie a 120mm fan to the back vent, so it is hanging in air over the GPU, then add a third zip tie to secure one of the side holes on the fan to the diagonal rail on the side of the case.

Here's a pic of my setup before with the Tuniq 120 Extreme for old times sake. Fits like it was built for the case, and with side fan on too. http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9185/p1010389h.jpg

some more pics:
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2074/85544494.jpg
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1978/15940943.jpg
 
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ya not sure i want to cut this up as i will be using it for lan :9

my orginal tt kandulf (sold) ( but have a spare one chilling)

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Having the fan above the GPU top mounted rather than angled should provide slightly better airflow as the fan will get an exhaust area equal to the whole surface of the fan instead of the small exhaust at the rear. I believe the reason for the angled fan was to keep the top panel looking clean and not have fans attached to the covers (easier to open case)
 
For info, I was getting max temps of around 80 degs C with running with my i980 moderately OC to 4GHz with stock setup.

I've just fitted an H70 and the temps dropped 30 degrees! I OC'ed a little more to 4.2 and am now looking at around 60 degrees C.

Very easy to fit ... Unforunately, my 480GTX still cooks at 90 :(
 
Great pics! I love 'em. Nice little machine. I'll be posting pics of mine soon enough also! :)
 
Are they manufacturing this computer case anymore? I've never seen this computer case in stock since like... January.
 
Alai said:
Are they manufacturing this computer case anymore? I've never seen this computer case in stock since like... January.
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You have to catch it while it is in stock. I was able to grab one. I'd suggest emailing them and ask when it would be in stock again. :)
 
Hi all,

I feel terribly stupid for not having seen this +100 page thread before. If I had, I would have kept my fingers away from the Lan-Gear Da Box 100 Classic. Now, after a rather disappointing build experience, I can only try to reduce my misery by reporting all the obvious faults I found on this over-priced piece.

  • The USB/audio unit does not fit into the holes on the front left edge. Some filing is needed there.
  • The mount holes for the PSU are too close to the front panel. They must be ovalized towards the rear before the PSU can be mounted.
  • The "track" for the ODD screws has been cut too low on one side, forcing you to use the file again.
  • The small dust filter simply won't slide into position, without a lot of vigorous filing.
  • The entire front panel hangs way too low. It does not come together nicely with the top, its lower edge will easily scratch your table, and you must - you guessed it! - file some on the optical disk drive tray before it fits through the corresponding slot in the front.
  • The motherboard screws have inch threads, but the motherboard mount points have metric M3 threads. You must buy extra screws to finish the project.
  • The motherboard mount points are just 4.2 mm thick, which makes the motherboard sink down on them, even when hardly any torque was applied to the motherboard screws. It is just nauseating to subject a high-end motherboard to this kind of torture, if you'd ask me.
  • The HDD cage is also out of tune, and must be modified before two 3.5" HDDs can be fitted.
  • There are no suitable screws delivered for the socket of the internal power cable.
  • On my (first) Da Box, one of the thumbscrews at the back was so far off its hole, the hole case must be judiciously scewed before you manage to nudge the screw into its threaded hole.
I contacted the french Lan-Gear representative about this, and he replied that it was their mistake. He told me that I had received a prototype and they would send me a replacement. This they did, but the second one was a "prototype" too. The serial number was actually lower than that of the first one! Disregarding some spread in the manufacturing process, the parts of the replacement "prototype" were just as out of whack as those of the original one.

The manual claims that you need one screwdriver and a pair of scissors to assemble the computer. As you may have inferred from the list above, I needed many more tools, but no scissors.

Final remarks.

In the end, I bought proper M3 motherboard screws, and some brass tube I could slip over the motherboard attachment points. Now the MB rests on top of these brass tubes, and cannot slide down onto the under-gauge attachment points.

I am no expert builder, but it appears to me this case is spacious in some regions, but ridiculously cramped in other. The fan of my Corsair A50 rubs against the HDD fan, and I am very grateful I did not buy one of the bigger graphics cards. There seems to be no margins at all for HDD and PSU cables behind a "full sized" graphics card.

If Lan-Gear wants to stay in business, they must get their act together real quick: improve the build quality dramatically, and stop lying to their customers.

Cheers
 
The USB/audio unit does not fit into the holes on the front left edge. Some filing is needed there.
I had no issues with my USB/Audio?

The mount holes for the PSU are too close to the front panel. They must be ovalized towards the rear before the PSU can be mounted.
I had no issues with my PSU?

The "track" for the ODD screws has been cut too low on one side, forcing you to use the file again.
Can't comment, didn't use an ODD.

The small dust filter simply won't slide into position, without a lot of vigorous filing.
Sure it does, there's not exactly anything to get in the way?

The entire front panel hangs way too low. It does not come together nicely with the top, its lower edge will easily scratch your table, and you must - you guessed it! - file some on the optical disk drive tray before it fits through the corresponding slot in the front.
Had no problem with this, just with the curve of the front being different then the curve of the top.

The motherboard screws have inch threads, but the motherboard mount points have metric M3 threads. You must buy extra screws to finish the project.
It came with the proper screws for me?

The motherboard mount points are just 4.2 mm thick, which makes the motherboard sink down on them, even when hardly any torque was applied to the motherboard screws. It is just nauseating to subject a high-end motherboard to this kind of torture, if you'd ask me.
I had no issue with this? It's not that hard to not over-tighten a screw.

The HDD cage is also out of tune, and must be modified before two 3.5" HDDs can be fitted.
No comment, didn't use the cage.

There are no suitable screws delivered for the socket of the internal power cable.
Yeah there were, and you can use fan screws too.

On my (first) Da Box, one of the thumbscrews at the back was so far off its hole, the hole case must be judiciously scewed before you manage to nudge the screw into its threaded hole.



Dunno, sounds like you had a lot of problems I haven't seen.
 
Zurginator said:
Dunno, sounds like you had a lot of problems I haven't seen.
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I had my fair share. One can only speculate on the reason:

  • You were lucky and I wasn't.
  • Lan-Gear sells the remaining bad ones to Europe, fearing the rage of the home market buyers.
  • It could be a matter of what components you buy. It has appeared to me that brand name batteries fit tighter in my mini maglite. The reason could be that they try to maximise the capacity of the batteries, by building the cells just short of the maximal size allowed by the battery standard. This is a trick that only manufacturers with very tight quality standards can pull off. That is, when Lan-Gear try to "shrink-wrap" the case around the standard components, without really having what it takes, discerning consumers buying high-end components "discover" the lacking quality of the case the hard way. (Unfortunately, this theory also suggests that you have bought el-cheapo components. I don't think so, so this theory seems to have its limitations.)
  • Lan-Gear actually managed to deliver two prototypes to me, without reacting when I told them so. (Yeah, right.)
So, I have no waterproof explanation why all these problems hit me, but not you.

Since my first message, I have read some of the earlier messages in this thread. I now realise that my problem with the optical disk drive opening in the front being too low, is nothing but a side effect of a quick fix. Initially, there was an issue with a poor fit around the top, front corners. On page 48 of this thread, mattinv notes that
mattinv said:
Hi Sabregen,
Before we go any further, I'd like to precise that I noticed problems that were not present on the pre production prototype such as the front cover not matching (it must be a perfect match).

I will contact the plant and have them send every single one of you who has had this problem a replacement. This is totally unacceptable and is the result of bad quality control.
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What should I say? They DID send me a replacement, but it was just as bad as the first box. The issue with the "it must be a perfect match" that was "totally unacceptable", has still not been solved. It has just been "fixed" by hanging the front too low. The problem with a poor fit at the top corners is replaced by an ugly lack of fit along the entire top edge, the need to file down the disk tray edge, and a case that tends to scratch up the desktop on which it stands.

The only possible merit of this fix, is that it is cheap.

Yours
 
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